1
Blood slid down my jaw and dripped to where a dried collection of red already existed. My knees dug into the wooden floor as I leaned over the platter, greedily ripping into the flesh I’d been bribed with by our captors.
Play nice or you don’t get your meat…like I’m a fucking dog.
I was just soveryhungry, and it never went away. Even with the increasing meals—platters piled high with thick cuts of bloody raw meat.
Hungry.
Sohungry.
Today was day two of being trapped in this room. I was increasingly angry at the situation. Yet sometimes I crawled around the small area whimpering like a beat dog, clutching my stomach and slowly withdrawing from the comfort of my friends.
That wasn’t like me. I was a fighter my whole life.
My tongue glided over the cooling meat I currently ate, savoring the texture.
“He’s getting worse,” Caspian said like I wasn’t present.
“Brandon,” Ava called to me. She was seeing if I even had the mind to stop eating and act like a human.
I didn’t. I looked at the locked door in front of me and kept tearing off chunks and swallowing them almost whole. My hindbrain was in control.
Actually, I wasn’t surewhatwas in control. I was becoming someone else,somethingelse. Hunger was taking over and washing away my identity until it was all that was left.
“Brandon,” she repeated. I ignored everything else until the platter was licked clean, my long tongue dragging in flat lines up the metal. I shoved it towards the door so our captors could collect it from the opening at the bottom.
My head turned towards Ava, the antlers were an awkward weight on my head I was just starting to get used to. I peered out the eye sockets of the deer skull. Once my eyes were on her, I felt compelled to move closer.
“Ava,” I sighed, feeling a sense of comfort wash over me that had no right to be there. I walked over and sat against her cage, the metal bars digging into my back. However humiliating this situation was for me, it was worse for them.
Being the only one free in the room, it was my responsibility to find a solution, fix this issue, and get them out. Yet I hadn’t been able to do anything but lash out in agitation and throw hateful comments at our keepers. This damned illness gnawing at my gut made me incompetent.
Ava reached out for me and I began to fit my hands through the bars. She was warm and soft, her touch settling my mind for a brief moment. My eyes lingered on her arm and my stomach pinched.
There was something I wasn’t telling anyone. A hunger was growing inside me that was sicker and more disgusting than a basic drive towards food.
I swallowed and pulled back my hands, our tangled fingers slipping apart. Concern and disappointment crossed her face.
“Fuck,” I hissed, angry at myself. Angry at Ben. Angry at fucking everything. At least that feeling was familiar. “I’m fucking losing it,” I said, gripping the hair at the back of my head and pulling it hard. If Caspian were out of the cage he could punch some sense into me. Sort of fucked up that’s what I craved at the moment.
My eyes drifted to him. Their cages were lined up along the wall like cattle awaiting slaughtering day. My mouth watered and I jerked my eyes from Caspian’s brown ones. He was giving me looks he’d never given me before—concern, hesitation,fear…
I curled in a ball next to Ava’s cage and closed my eyes. I’d been trying to stay awake as long as possible. I didn’t want someone coming into the room and moving any of them away from me. I had to protect them. My antlers scratched at the hardwood as I settled on my side.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said in frustration, exhausted.
“We’ll figure this out together,” Ava said, trying to comfort me. Caspian was quiet and I didn’t bother opening my eyes to see if Mothman had anything to say.
I startled awake, forgetting falling asleep. The room was dark. Ava was touching me, her fingers brushing the back of my neck in a reassuring massage. My eyes slid to the door but there was no platter of food.
Ineededthere to be a platter of food. I felt like I was starving.
Her fingers pressed into my neck and I took slow breaths as I envisioned each finger of hers—soft flesh and delicate skin. I was hard and hungry. I turned on my stomach and groaned into the floor, pressing my erection into the hardwood and lightly grinding against it.
I was practically throbbing while thinking about sliding her fingers into my mouth. Little nibbles at first, nothing concerning. Then harder, hard enough she got scared, her eyes widening. She’d call my name, beg me to stop, and I’d grip her wrist and bite in—savor Ava’s raw flavor.
“Stop,” I begged her. Her fingers stilled and then fell away in dejection. She didn’t know why I was pulling away. How could she? I couldn’t tell them these thoughts. I could barely fucking admit this sick hunger even to myself.
